Of seven new police officers Shaler approved hiring in April, three were currently attending police academies while four had yet to start training, police Chief Sean Frank said.
But because of competition between agencies, it's something the township has to do, the chief says.
"If you don't offer employment, they're going to go somewhere else," he said.
Commissioners approved conditional offers of employment to Parker Janosko, Justin Galati, Henry Sutter, Jeffrey Bonnette, Jesse Meckler, Luke Meckler and Nicholas Deluca.
The conditions include completing training and remaining certified as a police officer, passing all physical and psychological examinations, living within 25 miles of the township building on Wetzel Road and completing a one-year probationary period.
The starting annual salary for a police officer in Shaler is about $73,407.
The Mecklers are brothers and would be the second set of brothers on the Shaler police force, assistant township Manager Judy Kording said. Logan and Branden Pilardi have worked there since 2023.
The Mecklers will graduate from the Allegheny County Police Training Academy while Sutter will graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania's academy on June 13. All three should start three to four months of field training in Shaler around June 18, Frank said.
Janosko, Galati, Bonnette and Deluca will start at Allegheny County's academy on July 8, which will end around Dec. 12, Frank said.
All of the officers will have to complete field training before going on Shaler's schedule, the chief said.
Hiring seven officers at once is unusual, said Tim Rogers, a former township manager who recently returned as a manager consultant.
Rogers explained it was needed because two officers retired and two left the township, while two officers are off because of injury and one is on worker's compensation.
Getting the new officers onboard will be good for both the existing officers' wellness as well as the township's financial wellness, Frank said.
"We are running short and we are incurring double shifts on a fairly consistent basis," he said. "Not only is it going to ease the burden of the overtime, but the burnout factor of the officers who have to work the extra shifts."